Medusa is the Queen of the Inhumans and the primary interpreter for her husband Black Bolt, the King of the Inhumans. Medusa is best known for her long, thick head of red hair, which she can psychokinetically wield like countless extra appendages.

Current Events

Medusa returned to New Attilan to find it being attacked by the Ennilux Corporation. To her surprise her estranged husband Black Bolt had also returned to help defend the city. After defeating their foes the two retreated to the throne room to discuss the future, at which point Medusa informed him that he had lost the right to rule after he had left the city in chaos. He agreed to her conditions and left peacefully after destroying his throne. She is soon after tricked by Lineage into an investigation into a Kree facility designed for experimenting on humans. Upon arriving she realized that she has been betrayed and about to be ambushed.

Origin

Medusalith Amaquelin was born to Quelin and Ambur, who were both members of the Inhumans. Quelin was the brother of Rynda, the wife of King Agon. Because of that family connection, Medusalith was considered a member of Attilan's Royal Family. Her parents had elected to expose her to the Terrigen Mists when she was young, which gave her a long, thick head of red hair which she could use like an appurtenance. She became widely known by her shortened name "Medusa," after the woman in Greek mythology who had actual snakes for hair.

Creation

Medusa first appeared in Fantastic Four #36 in 1964 and was created by writer Stan Lee and artist Jack Kirby. Though she was the first Inhuman character to ever appear in comics, she made her debut as the sole female member of the Frightful Four, a team of supervillains that opposed the heroic Fantastic Four. She was given the unique power of prehensile hair and believed herself to be the most powerful member of the Frightful Four. Later it was revealed that Medusa was actually a member of the Inhuman royal family, and that she had been brainwashed into becoming a villain after she had lost her memory.

Major Story Arcs

Medusa and Black Bolt

During her adolescent years, Medusa began to visit her cousin Black Bolt, who at a young age was quarantined by necessity since the power of his voice could cause catastrophic damage. Because of this, Black Bolt could never vocalize his thoughts. Medusa learned to communicate with him in a special sign language, and due to these regular visits, the two had fallen in love by the time Black Bolt had been released from his cell at the age of eighteen.

The Kree Attack Attilan

Medusa joins the Frightful Four

When Kree refugees came to Attilan for refuge, their true purpose was to assassinate Medusa and the rest of the Inhuman Royal Family. Medusa was seen along with Gorgon, Black Bolt, Ahura and Karnak in a garden since the Inhuman Royal Family renounced their claim of power. Before they could shoot, Black Bolt sensed them and sent a bolt of energy their way. Medusa used her hair to protect both Ahura and herself and tells Ahura he will not help because he will be in the line of danger. Medusa saw her husband captured and attacked the soldiers, but she was hit from behind and knocked out. Medusa was then held at knife point by a Kree soldier while he told Black Bolt to give up. She awoke and took his arm off with her hair. She then announced that she and the Royal Family would become the protectors of Attilan once again. She, with the rest, were teleported outside of Attilan to see the Kree tents. She asked the Kree soldier what that was and that was when a group of Kree soldiers came. She attacked them until their boss came and told them the situation. She then went to the Genetics Council to hear the decision. Medusa was then teleported to the mists to attack the Kree. She was told by Karnak about which spots to hit on an energy based creature, but she and Karnak were easily knocked out.

The Frightful Four

Medusa - Defeating Sue Storm

When mutiny spread across the Alpha Primitive workers, Medusa battled their leaders, the Trikon. During the battle, Medusa's ship crashed to the ground and the impact caused her to lose her memory. The supervillain known as the Wizard then found her and took advantage of her amnesia. He was creating an evil version of the Fantastic Four called the Frightful Four and wanted a female on the team to counter the FF's Invisible Girl, and offered Medusa membership. She accepted, and the evil foursome was born. Medusa's team easily beat the FF in their first encounter in issue #36, minus the Torch who was away. However, Torch later saved Sue, Reed, Ben and Alicia Masters from being smothered to death in space when he kidnapped the Wizard and forced him to fly a plane to rescue them and this ruined the Frightful Four's chance to claim a real victory. Nevertheless, two issues later in FF #38, the evil FF really did deliver the Fantastic Four their first defeat! Medusa brilliantly laid a trap for Susan Storm and the lovely Invisible Girl walked blindly into it. With Medusa's successful capture of the blonde girl, the Frightful Four swiftly abducted Sue to an isolated Pacific atoll. Reed, Ben and Johnny soon followed and they found Sue, but too late to escape the Wizard's nuclear trap. A mighty explosion caused the FF to lose their powers. FF #41 had the Wizard turning Ben Grimm against his friends via his ID machine. With his additional strength, Medusa's team easily defeated the FF for a second straight time! By the end of the triple saga in FF #43, Reed managed to break Wizard's hold on Ben and this gave the FF enough of a chance to win the day. Medusa managed to escape while her partners were being caught and this allowed us to be introduced in the next few issues to her Inhuman family....... However, before we turn to them, it must be noted that Medusa brought much to her evil team, especially a superb intellect, as demonstrated by when she had Trapster create a chemically treated giant plastic bag in FF #41 to imprison the unconscious Invisible Girl. Since the plastic bag was able to stretch to any size, Sue's force field was totally ineffective against the trap which was crafted by Medusa's genius. Some have even said that the red-haired lady showed a bit of eerie sadistic glee when she was a Frightful Four villainess. While the Frightful Four went on for decades to battle the FF, they never had as much success in future battles as what they had with Medusa in FF #36, #38, and #41- #43. Stan Lee might have been better off if he had kept Medusa in the Frightful Four and even made her the leader of the evil quartet. However, then we would probably never met Medusa's family, the Inhumans, so let's move on to them ... Gorgon came along and tried to capture her along with the Human Torch. A fight between Medusa and the Human Torch awakened the imprisoned Dragon Man. He protected Medusa against Gorgon and the Fantastic Four as he was confused by her and originally thought she was the Invisible Girl, until the actual Invisible Girl came along to help stop Dragon Man and Gorgon. The four were distracted and Gorgon had enough time to capture Medusa and bring her back to Attlian.

Return to the Inhumans

With her memory finally jogged, Medusa stopped fighting against the Inhumans and joined them in a fight against the Fantastic Four, who came to save the Human Torch. The Human Torch had fallen in love with Medusa's sister, Crystal. But when Crystal announced that Triton had been captured by the Seeker, Medusa teleported her family to Attilan. They arrived, as Maximus and Medusa both knew Black Bolt could not use his voice. Maximus then tried to claim Medusa has his bride, but Black Bolt ran to steal back the Inhuman crown, reclaiming himself as the leader of the Inhumans, with Medusa by his side.

When the Fantastic Four arrived, the Human Torch was reunited with Crystal and Maximus fired his atmo-gun. When his machine didn't work, Medusa realized that the Inhumans and humans were all the same and it angered Maximus. He reversed his machine and it created a Negative Zone around Attilan that trapped them, while the Fantastic Four escaped just in time. Black Bolt realized he had no other choice but to use his voice, to destroy the Negative Zone around Attilan. Black Bolt had revealed his secret in the end: he could use his voice.

Medusa talked to Marista, about how she wished she can hear Black Bolt speak. Medusa went on to tell her how everyday Black Bolt went to meditate to make sure he wouldn't say a word which would kill all of them. Marista asked if Medusa was afraid if he would lose his grip. Medusa said no, but she was afraid of how Black Bolt could so easily close everything out including herself. The Council of Elders and Black Bolt, later sent Medusa and the royal family to study human society, where Medusa was led into conflict with Spider-Man. Medusa was then captured by Maximus, who stole the Inhuman crown once again and imprisoned Black Bolt. Black Bolt used his powerful voice once again and freed the people of Attilan. She then tried to restore Black Bolt's voice under the Enchantress' influence to join the Lady Liberators. When Susan Richards left the Fantastic Four, Medusa took her place. After several months of service, Medusa convinced Sue to join the Fantastic Four once again, allowing Medusa to return to Attilan.

Second Kree Attack on Attilan

Medusa's modern outfit

Medusa asked Arvak if any humans plagued their borders. He told her they were safe for another night. She then, by Black Bolt, gives the order for the Inhumans to sleep. Not long after, a ship which attacked the Inhumans arrived. She and Black Bolt went to see who it was. They find out it was the Kree. Medusa wondered how they defeated their best warriors so quickly. Black Bolt sent an order to her and she knew what she had to do. A beetledroid dismantled the ship Medusa was on. She fell, but her hair cushioned her fall. The machines neutralized her powers and wrap their legs in her hair so it won't grow. She then faints, thanking the gods that Luna and Crystal were not in Attilan that night. Medusa, with Gorgon and Black Bolt, goes to Sparto's planet to assassinate Lilandra, but unknown to them, Karnak and Triton were part of the Imperial Guard.

The Royal Family had their troubles with Maximus, but Medusa remained the interpreter for Black Bolt. After Attilan was moved to the Blue Area of the Moon, she and Black Bolt were married and Medusa was made queen. When Medusa became pregnant, Attilan's Genetics Council argued that mating should be banned, due to the unsteadiness of Maximus and ordered the pregnancy terminated. Medusa fled to Earth and lived in the desert until the child was born. Medusa returned to Attilan and turned her son over the Genetics Council, who they smuggled to Earth for testing. Medusa found out and went after her child. When this exposed a grab for power, both the Genetics Council and the Royal Family gave up leadership, though the Royal Family resumed leadership. Medusa has led an effort to bring the Inhumans and humans together, beginning with the learning of each others' cultures.

War of Kings

After the Inhuman Royal Family moved Attilan to Hala to begin their rule over the Kree Empire, which was something they were made to do, war broke out between them and the Shi-ar Empire, led by the unstable Vulcan. When Black Bolt attempted to end the war with the Terigen Bomb, it created a massive fissure in space and time known as the Fault. It also took Black Bolt and Vulcan's lives. Having won the war, Medusa became queen of both the Kree and the Shi'ar.

Realm of Kings

Queen Medusa

With the grief of losing her husband, Medusa took the role of leader very seriously, acting how a queen should. She realized that there was still considerable tension between the Inhumans and the Kree, especially after the loss of Black Bolt. She proved on several occasions that the Kree needed the Inhumans by saving them from a rogue Destructoid called Devos the Devastator, and a revolt of the Alpha Primitives. The other Inhumans soon discovered that Maximus was behind those plots, but after they caught him, Medusa released him, claiming to have put Maximus up to it. Much to the disagreement of others, specifically Gorgon, Crystal and Ronan, Medusa has strived to force a positive relationship between the Inhumans and the Kree. Medusa plans to have nothing get in her way of ruling the Empire.

Avengers Infinity Quest

When The Hood embarked on a scheme to find the Infinity Gems the Illuminati had kept hidden from the world, Iron Man summoned a reunion of the clandestine organization. However, in place of Black Bolt, Medusa showed up with Lockjaw. After the Avengers succeed in defeating The Hood and sending him back to jail, Medusa rejoined with a new Illuminati (now with Steve Rogers in their ranks), and they vowed to do a better job of keeping the gems hidden.

Inhuman

After Thanos's attack and the fall of Attilan during the events of "Infinity", Black Bolt was lost to his people, leaving Medusa the sole leader of the Inhumans, yet again. The terrigen mists that Black Bolt had released on the world had caused many to die because their bodies rejected the transformation, but it also created new Inhumans, including Dante Pertuz, aka Inferno, Kamala Khan, aka Ms. Marvel (to whom she sent the teleporting Lockjaw), and Mark Sim, aka Haechi. Medusa took on the task of finding these new Inhumans to bring them into the fold before they were lost to her.

Out of the Darkness

As the solitary leader of the Inhumans, Medusa begins rebuilding the fallen Attilan afloat in the Hudson River, just off Manhattan, and dubs it New Attilan. Reconstruction goes well, and very soon, the city appears to be thriving. Rather than continue to pursue a policy of isolation, as had been the custom of the Inhumans for centuries, Medusa decided to open up a bazaar just outside the actual city, to allow for outside visitors and tourists (mostly from Manhattan) to visit, without the need of a visa, and to trade and buy things from Inhuman vendors. This was yet another brilliant move by Medusa, as it not only allowed for the outside world to view them as friendly and financially competent and competitive, but it also helped increase revenue that the city so desperately needed. Medusa used a device to project her image above the city, in the sky, and announced to the entire world that all Inhumans were welcome to live on New Attilan - it would be a sanctuary and a home for those who sought it. She also reaffirmed New Attilan's sovereignty, and warned that violent or unnecessarily intrusive acts would be dealt with as a government deals with a criminal. Medusa was proving to be a very effective queen, bringing the city of New Attilan and the new Inhumans (dubbed NuHumans) "Out of the Darkness" and into the light.

Soon after the opening of the bazaar, a previously banished Inhuman returned to see his old city. It was the cruel former king of the Inhumans: the Unspoken. He appeared to Medusa with gifts in the form of three NuHumans, and asked for her hand in marriage, arguing that she was a kingless queen who could benefit from his ages of experience and his knowledge. Medusa immediately refused, knowing the Unspoken to be a cunning, manipulative liar. She accepted his gift of the NuHumans, and instructed Gorgon to place the Unspoken in a not-especially uncomfortable cell - which was exactly what the Unspoken wanted. With his knowledge of the city, he was able to open a secret passage from the cell down into a secret chamber in which the final store of Terrigen crystals was hidden away, unbeknownst to Medusa. The Inhuman Queen, cunning as she is, knew he would lead them there, and surprised the Unspoken in the chamber. However, the Unpoken's NuHumans attacked and distracted Medusa and Gorgon long enough for the Unspoken to reach the crystals, granting him youth, strength, and power. He incapacitated Medusa and Gorgon, and his forces began landing in the city. However, thanks to the help of NuHumans Inferno, Naja, and Flint, the Unspoken was defeated, and Medusa was freed.

Avengers & X-Men: AXIS

Reinforcements arrive!

When the Red Onslaught began his World War Hate on the island of Genosha, Medusa was one of the reinforcements who arrived to battle the Onslaught and the special sentinels (designed by Tony Stark specifically to take down heroes). The Red Skull, before his murder at the hands of Magneto that transformed him into the Red Onslaught, had transformed the ruins of the former mutant kingdom of Genosha into "Reeducation Camps" for "genetic filth". Inhumans, mutants, and other genetic aberrations, such as Atlanteans, were rounded up, taken to the camps, and systematically slaughtered. As Queen of the Inhumans, Medusa's involvement was not only to aid her fellow heroes, but also to liberate and avenge her people. Following the Inversion Spell cast by Doctor Doom and the Scarlet Witch, the Red Onslaught was transformed back into the Red Skull. The spell, however, also affected the heroes and villains present during the fight, inverting their personalities. Following these events, Medusa, not more ruthless, joined the Avengers in their tower. The group consisted of Medusa, Wasp, Thor, Luke Cage, and the new Captain America. The more ruthless Avengers wanted to kill the Red Skull, who had escaped the confines of his prison, to avoid handing him over to SHIELD or the X-Men. The X-Men, now with an inverted Evan Sabahnur, aka the Apocalypse, were preaching war. The Avengers began to prepare themselves for war with the X-Men.

Powers and Abilities

Medusa's most notable feature is her unusually long and luxurious red hair (six feet in length when fully relaxed), the strands of which are no thicker than the average strand of human hair and just as soft when she wills it to be. However, each strand possesses greater tensile strength and durability than steel wire of the same thickness, and Medusa has the psychokinetic ability to wield all of them like countless extra appendages. With concentration, she can move her hair in almost any manner imaginable.

Hair-slamming an opponent

When sufficiently anchored, Medusa’s hair is strong enough to lift and hurl heavy objects up to 1.6 tons in weight, and each individual strand on its own can support approximately 6.4 pounds. For greater reach, Medusa can stretch the strands up to double their original length with minimal loss of tensile strength. She can snap her hair as if it were a whip, the tips of which move faster than the speed of sound, or rotate it at extremely high velocities like a powerful fan. She can also use it to form sharp spear-like points for puncturing and stabbing purposes. Her control over her hair is precise enough that she can easily perform actions that require great dexterity and complex coordination, such as typing on a keyboard, shuffling and dealing a deck of cards, or picking a lock.

Defeating Venom with sonic whiplashes

Her hair is a devastating weapon in close combat, since most opponents find it impossible to block or evade all of her attacks at once and quickly find themselves overwhelmed by the countless strands. Even while she attacks with her hair from many directions, she can simultaneously use it to shield herself from attack, since it is extremely durable and difficult to damage. Though her hair has no nerves, she can feel sensations through it with her psionic field.

Because she is an Inhuman, Medusa also possesses greater strength, speed, agility, reflexes, and endurance than humans. Even without using her hair, she is strong enough to lift approximately one ton under normal conditions. She has also had extensive training in unarmed combat. Though most Inhumans have very weak immune systems compared to humans, Medusa has spent enough time in the outside world that her immune system has toughened considerably. Unlike her fellow Inhumans, she is not easily sickened by the bacteria, viruses, and pollutants of the outside world and can operate normally in it.

Interpreting Black Bolt's wishes

From a young age, Medusa developed a special form of silent communication with Black Bolt, which eventually led their romance and marriage. She can instinctively read her husband's body language, mannerisms, and intentions better than anyone, and has long served as his personal interpreter and translator. As the queen of the Inhumans, Medusa has shown exemplary leadership qualities and it is often thought that she is the true guiding force behind her people, even more so than Black Bolt.

Alternate Versions

Earth-1602 Medusa

Marvel 1602 (Earth-311)

Madame Medusa was a member of "The Four Who Are Frightful" (this universe's version of the Frightful Four) and was featured as the Wizard's lover. Just like her namesake from ancient Greek mythology, Medusa's hair was now composed of actual snakes, and she had to wear a veil to prevent her gaze from turning people into stone. Although her origin was not mentioned, she was described as an "inhuman." She possibly had a French background because of how she was addressed as "madame."

Earth X (Earth-9997)

Earth-X Medusa

Medusa of Earth X had the same prehensile hair as her main reality counterpart, though its length and volume was now drastically increased. She was still Queen of the Inhumans, but her husband, Black Bolt, was dead. She feared for the emotional loss of her son, Ahura. Many of her allies and friends were mutated by an accident that happened on Earth. As a way to unite the remaining factions of Earth, Captain Britain proposed to her.

Ultimate Universe (Earth-1610)

Medusa was still the queen of the Inhumans and the wife of their leader, Black Bolt. Like her Earth-1602 counterpart, this Medusa also had snakes for hair, though in this reality the snakes and her skin were green in color.

Ultimate Medusa

Unlike the Earth-616 Medusa, the Ultimate Medusa did not believe that Inhumans and humans could co-exist peacefully and was very patriotic towards her people's cause. However, she felt strong regret over her husband's inability to speak.

Marvel Zombies (Earth-2149)

In the issue of Ultimate Fantastic Four when Mr. Fantastic entered the Marvel Zombies Universe, Medusa was one of the featured zombies (along with the other super-powered zombies) who attacked him. Her hair was much like the Earth-616 version.

Age of Apocalypse (Earth-295)

Age of Apocalypse

In the Age of Apocalypse reality, Medusa and the Inhuman royal family were killed by Maximus (who had become the Death Horseman of Apocalypse), and later cloned to serve as his personal bodyguards. The cloned Medusa fought against the X-Men, entangling Nightcrawler in her hair before being attacked by the feral Sabretooth, who defeated her. It was unknown if she survived the struggle but she was most likely killed after Sunfire destroyed Apocalypse´s ship with the Inhuman clones on board. The cloned Medusa had greenish skin and long green hair instead of her classic red tone.

Marvel Mangaverse (Earth-2301)

Earth-2301 Mangaverse

Other than being drawn in a Manga style, the Marvel Mangaverse Medusa was much like her main reality counterpart. She and the other Inhumans helped the son of this reality's Captain Marvel to destroy Galactus before he could devour the Earth.

Other Media

Television

Fantastic Four cartoon series (1978)

Fantastic Four (1978)

Medusa appeared along with the rest of the Inhumans in one episode, and later appeared as a member of the Frightful Four. In this series she was portrayed as a straight villain with no apparent redeeming qualities. She was voiced by Joan Gerber.

Spider-Man cartoon series (1981)

Spider-Man (1981)

Medusa appeared in the episode Under the Wizard's Spell. She acted as a villain and fought Spider-Man, until it was revealed that Medusa was being mind-controlled by the Wizard, who had placed a special collar on her that enslaved her to his will. After the collar was neutralized, the two teamed up to defeat the Wizard.

Fantastic Four animated series (1994-1996)

Fantastic Four (1994)

Medusa appeared in four episodes of the series, mainly in the Inhumans Saga which ran three consecutive episodes. She was initially a member of the Frightful Four, and was later revealed to be a member of the Inhumans. The Inhumans were initially hostile to the Fantastic Four until the two sides joined forces against Black Bolt's renegade brother, Maximus the Mad. The show's producer, Tom Tataranowicz, revealed that he wanted to have Medusa join the Fantastic Four during the third season, but unfortunately the series was canceled after two seasons. Actress Iona Morris provided Medusa's voice in the series.

Hulk and the Agents of S.M.A.S.H.

Hulk and the Agents of S.M.A.S.H.

Medusa, and the rest of the Inhumans, appears in the episode "Inhuman Nature" voiced by Mary Faber.

Video Games

Marvel: Ultimate Alliance (2006)

Marvel Ultimate Alliance

Medusa appeared as an NPC in the game, and was voiced by actress Nancy Linari. She was shown as being imprisoned in Attilan after being brainwashed into serving Doctor Doom.

Marvel: Avengers Alliance

Marvel Avengers Alliance

Medusa is a playable character in the game, and can be recruited by using normal command points.

Her bio says: Though often serving as the voice for her mute husband, Black Bolt, many believe that Queen Medusalith Amaquelin-Boltagon is the true ruler of the Inhumans. Her imperious bearing and resolute leadership are well-suited to the challenges her people face. But when a more-violent solution to those challenges is required, her psycho-kinetically controlled hair can be formed into tentacles, shields, and blades stronger and sharper than steel.

Marvel: War of Heroes

Marvel: War of Heroes

Medusa appears in several cards in the mobile card game Marvel: War of Heroes. Her cards are:

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